{"id":1974,"date":"2021-01-12T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-12T20:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/?p=1974"},"modified":"2021-01-08T10:04:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T17:04:44","slug":"how-i-design-my-book-covers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winter-publishing.com\/welcome-to-winter\/2021\/01\/12\/how-i-design-my-book-covers\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Design My Book Covers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So you\u2019ve done it. After laborious hours and a lot of cups of tea, you\u2019ve made it to the end of your book and you\u2019re ready to start thinking about what you want for your cover. (Or, if you\u2019re anything like me, you\u2019ve been thinking about what your cover will look like for years now.) But what exactly should you get, and what\u2019s the best way to get the idea of your story across? Let me break down what I did for my covers, and what I\u2019ve learned in the process of publishing my first series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Please note that this is tailored more towards Independent Authors and Self-Pub folks. The process for cover designing with traditional publishers is quite different, and there can be a lot less say from the author.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Genre<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When designing a cover, you want to make it somewhat clear what your genre is. Many readers still check out books in a physical bookstore, but there are also a lot of online stores where people will browse new reading options. When designing a cover, you want to make sure you do something to signal your books genre. Let\u2019s take a look at my first book cover, Viridis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here, you can see the red, bloody skull and the title. What\u2019s that tell you? Well, if anything, it hints at horror, which isn\u2019t entirely what I meant to do. I didn\u2019t realize my mistake until later, but let\u2019s see what the original idea was, and what I could\u2019ve done to make it a little less \u201chorror-esk.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viridis\u2019 cover design idea was originally based off Chloe\u2019s crimson skull painted on by Jade, the main character of the novel. The realistic look, the gruesomeness, was to indicate that this book was violent and to play into the triology\u2019s overall theme – which we\u2019ll get into later in this post. Now, what could I have done to make sure the sci-fi vibe came across a little better? Well, I could\u2019ve made the human skull something else – maybe one of the alien species\u2019 skulls, or used a prop, such as the commonly used weapons in the universe, H-Blades, to stab through the skull, hinting at progressed technology. Would the bloody skull still give off that horror vibe, even if there were a few sci-fi elements? Oh, most definitely. But it also would\u2019ve at least better narrowed down the genre for people at a first glance. Am I upset about the cover, or dislike the cover? Not at all. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d change anything about it now, and I really love how it looks. But in the future, I\u2019ll work on making sure these sci-fi elements come across a little better.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did I succeed? Let\u2019s look at the cover for Caerule, the second book in the Viridis series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here, we see a new, alien skull. In addition, we have some plants growing out of it, plants that are most definitely not native to the world we know today, indicated by their coloring. This gives a better \u201cotherworldly\u201d feel to the cover, I think, while keeping the overall white cover background that I like so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Age Group<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An indication of the age group your book is for is another great thing to factor into your book cover creation. For instance, books with giant, bloody red skulls on them are generally not for children! This is a great additional way to signal that the written piece is not for those under a certain age or maturity level, and that parents should not pick it up for their kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparatively, let\u2019s look at another book cover that is <\/em>for kids: Endling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Not only is the cover beautifully done by the cover artist (give the artist some love<\/a>), but it gives that soft, whimsical feel. It hints at a bit of foreboding, with the characters standing erect, peering either direction, alert. The dark background gives the sense that there is danger, but not violence. The characters are equipped for what seems to be an adventure, with no clear weapons. The soft touch, the golden lettering and bordering–that, to me, gives the feeling that this story is more whimsical, but does have some darker elements. That it’s not “adult,” but it isn’t for little children, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Endling is a fairly good book – it\u2019s a bit too young for me in its writing style, but it\u2019s definitely something an elementary kid might enjoy!)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the cover must be paired with the proper age range information as disclosed by you or the publisher, to further ensure there is no mistaken purchase (this is done during the publishing process and should be disclosed in marketing materials as well, to help people make an informed decision), but a cover is a great way to catch the right readers\u2019 attentions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Symbols And Metaphors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely adore putting some symbols and metaphors in my covers. I\u2019ve got an ongoing theme and idea for the Viridis series covers, and it all started with Viridis. This book has been out for a while, so I\u2019ll go ahead and get into a little of what the cover means. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s the obvious: blood and death displayed due to the on-going war; the human skull because our main characters are humans; and the link with Chloe. But there\u2019s also the less obvious one which is linked directly to the theme of the books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viridis\u2019 skull is specifically one of the human characters\u2019 skull. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won\u2019t say more until the final book comes out. But symbols and metaphors are fun things to think about adding into your cover, to hint at things within the book, and things to come. It adds a bit more depth to your visuals, and can spark discussion. Which is great!
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Appeal\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Think about the bookshelf appeal as well. One of the reasons I love white covers, is that when I was younger, I never saw many white covered books. They were the ones that, therefore, always drew my attention. There\u2019s more white covers out there now, but they still hold a special place in my heart. Think about what your book will look like on the shelf, and aspects of your cover (and your book\u2019s spine) that will pop out and draw a reader closer. Is it a splash of color? A word, or format? Perhaps you\u2019ll have your title draw in gold text, while your spine is dark? Perhaps your cover will feature subtle design choices that keep your reader finding new pieces in it each time they look, or you\u2019ll go for something simple and striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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